Guilty: Paul Taylor, 60, has been found guilty of murdering Sally McGrath, 22, more than 30 years after her death

A violent 'sexual predator' who killed a woman and buried her in a shallow grave has been convicted of her murder after escaping justice for over 30 years.

Former soldier Paul Taylor, now 60, buried Sally McGrath's naked body in Cambridgeshire woodland after he murdered her in July 1979.

The tragic 22-year-old was eventually discovered in 1980, but the mystery of her death would remain unsolved for another 32 years.

Miss McGrath's killer, from Fareham, Hampshire, was charged last year after detectives launched a cold case review in 2009.

Taylor, who was convicted of murder today following an eight week trial at Chelmsford Crown Court, was also found guilty of a string of sex attacks on separate women in the months leading up to Miss McGrath's death.

He was convicted of three counts of rape, one of attempted rape, and another of serious sexual assault.

A judge warned Taylor, who was 27 at the time of the attacks, he would face life in prison after 'finally' being brought to justice.

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Mr Justice Owen commended Cambridgeshire Police detectives for their work to solve the mystery, which officers working at the time of the crime failed to crack despite a huge investigation - the biggest in the history of the force ahead of the Soham murders in 2002.

He told Taylor: 'You have finally been brought to justice and you will now serve life in prison.'

Miss McGrath
was last seen alive on July 11, 1979 at a Peterborough hotel with
Taylor, who killed her before burying her body in woodland at Castor
Hanglands, Cambridgeshire,

Taylor was arrested last year after
the case was reopened by police and was subsequently charged with Miss
McGrath’s murder along with the sexual offences.

He had denied all charges.

'Violent': Sally McGrath, 22, seen left, was discovered in a shallow grave in Cambridgeshire woodland. Paul Taylor, seen right in a photo taken around the time of the murder in 1979, has now been convicted of killing her

Prosecutor Karim Khalil had told the trial that Taylor was married at the time of the 1979 offences, but was a 'womaniser' who openly slept with other women.

Taylor admitted regularly 'going for quickies', but insisted in a police interview that his sexual relationships were always consensual.

'You have finally been brought to justice and you will now serve life in prison'

Mr Justice Owen

The court heard the killer was a 'flirt' and a 'ladies' man', but that he quickly turned violent if encounters did not go his way.

Describing Taylor as a 'sexual predator', Mr Khalil said: 'In the 1970s he was a reasonably good-looking and physically strong young man.

'He was brimming with confidence and had the capacity to be an engaging flirt and a ladies' man. But if he did not have his own way, he had the capacity to become violent very quickly.

'He used this violence to force young women into submission or simply to have his way with them,' Mr Khalil said.

Taylor is due to be sentenced tomorrow. Cambridgeshire Police are set to investigate the possibility that Taylor committed further sex attacks during the years he avoided being brought to justice.

Detective Superintendent Jeff Hill, who led the new investigation following the launch of the cold case review in 2009, said: 'As a result of this inquiry, we have already considered what other offences may have been committed by Taylor.

'Given the nature of the offending, there is every chance that similar crimes have occurred that we just quite simply don’t know about.'